Output unit of computer contains various forms of output devices. In this article we will study about different output devices like monitor, printer and speaker.
Highlights:
1. Monitor and its types
2. Printer and its types
3. Speaker
1. Monitor and its types
Monitor, also known as Visual Display Unit (VDU) is the main output device used in computer. The image or text is shown on the monitor by combining various small dots known as pixels. There are following two types of monitors:
1. CRT Monitor: CRT stands for Cathode Ray Tube. These monitors were used in earlier times which are very heavy and takes large amount of space. Power consumption is also very high in CRT monitors.
2. LCD monitor: LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display. It is a flat panel screen which is lighter in space than CRT monitors and occupies less space. LCD monitors consume less electricity than CRT monitors and the picture quality is also better in these monitors.
2. Printer and its types
Printer is an output device, which is used to print information on paper. Basically, it converts soft copy of a document into hard copy.
There are two types of printers −
- Impact Printers
- Non-Impact Printers
1. Impact Printers: Impact printers print the characters by striking them on the ribbon, which is then pressed on the paper. Examples of Impact printers are Dotmatrix printer, Line printer etc.
Characteristics of Impact Printers are the following −
- Very low consumable costs
- Very noisy
- Useful for bulk printing due to low cost
- There is physical contact with the paper to produce an image
2. Non- Impact Printers:
Non-impact printers print the characters without using the ribbon. These printers print a complete page at a time, thus they are also called as Page Printers. There is no physical contact with the paper to produce an image. Examples of Non-impact printers are Laser printer, Inkjet printer etc.
Characteristics of Non-impact Printers
- Faster than impact printers
- They are not noisy
- High quality
- Supports many fonts and different character size
3. Speaker
Speakers are one of the most common output devices used with computer systems. A computer speaker is an output hardware device that connects to a computer to generate sound. The signal used to produce the sound that comes from a computer speaker is created by the computer’s sound card.
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